Photo/Illutration Haruka Kobayashi is sentenced to life in prison on Dec. 4 at the Niigata District Court. (Provided by Yuda Azuma)

NIIGATA--The district court here handed a life prison term to a 25-year-old man for murdering and indecently assaulting a 7-year-old girl he knocked down with his car and abducted.

Prosecutors had sought the death sentence for Haruka Kobayashi, a local resident who worked for a company in Niigata.

“It was an indiscriminate crime that targeted the weak and had serious consequences,” said Presiding Judge Takeshi Yamazaki, wrapping up the lay judge trial at the Niigata District Court on Dec. 4. “But it is impossible for us to judge whether the death penalty is inevitable as this crime was not premeditated.”

The victim, a second-grader at an elementary school here, was slain in the city's Nishi Ward in May last year.

The court's decision reflected an earlier Supreme Court ruling that very careful consideration must be given to the issue of capital punishment in view of its gravity and sentences handed down for similar crimes to ensure fairness in the system.

The district court said it wanted to respect the feelings of the bereaved family, who had pressed for the death sentence.

However, the court decided to put more weight on past rulings in murder cases involving obscene sex acts given in lay judge trials, which did not result in a death sentence, and the fact the crime did not appear to be premeditated.

The court concluded that Kobayashi deserves a life prison term on grounds his crime was not much more brutal than similar murder cases in the past.

With regard to whether Kobayashi intended to kill the girl, the court acknowledged that he strangled her to silence her screaming. It acknowledged that Kobayashi did nothing to save the girl after she lost consciousness and must have been aware she might die.

The court said that Kobayashi hit the girl from behind with his car on May 7, 2018, as she made her way home from school.

After bundling the girl into his car, he performed indecent sexual acts on her, strangled her and abandoned the body that evening on the tracks of the JR Echigo Line to be hit by a train.

'NO SIGN OF REMORSE'

After stating his reasons for the ruling, the presiding judge told Kobayashi that he, as well as the lay judges and bereaved family members, were unable to assess whether he truly regretted his actions.

The judge also touched on Kobayashi’s statements that he prays for the girl every morning.

He urged the defendant to pray as often as possible and kneel on the ground whenever he does so.

The judge went on to say that Kobayashi must never lose sight of his feelings of apology, not even for a moment, as he will have to pay for the crime for the remainder of his life.

Kobayashi whimpered “yes” and bowed.

After the ruling, two male lay judges in their 40s held a news conference.

One of them, looking back on the trial proceedings, said his overriding thought throughout was about fairness.

He noted that the court followed past legal standards in deciding whether to hand down the death sentence. However, he also expressed mixed feelings and called for a review of those standards in light of the fact that some murder cases are unthinkable in their brutality and are becoming more diverse.

The other lay judge, who is a parent, said he hoped Kobayashi would continue to deeply reflect on what he had done and eventually find a way to contribute to society.

BEREAVED FAMILY ANGRY

In a statement released after the court ruling, the bereaved family members said they realized that the girl would never return to them but they could not understand why Kobayashi will continue to live.

They expressed anger at the ruling, which they termed too lenient and took issue with the sincerity of Kobayashi's repeated apologies.

The family said the ruling would not allow the girl to rest in peace and that simply voicing regret over the outcome could not assuage their anger.

(This article was written by Kenta Nakamura and Ayumi Sugiyama.)